Adkins admits emailing photos of male anatomy – The News (subscription)

The day before law enforcement arrested the Rev. Kenneth Adkins in August 2016, he admitted to Georgia Bureau of Investigators agents he sent photos of his male anatomy to a man hes accused of molesting when that person was underage.

Adkins is on trial in Glynn County Superior Court regarding multiple felonies for allegedly engaging in sexual acts with two victims A.J., a boy, and T.V., a girl when they were both 15 years old, between August 2009 and March 2010.

Prosecutors played for the jury a recording of the GBIs interview with Adkins, in which after a friendly back-and-forth, the agents began pressing Adkins for clearer answers on his involvement with evidence they already had in hand.

At one point, they specifically questioned his involvement with two photographs of a black males private parts sent from Adkins public relations companys email account to A.J. in November 2014.

One agent could be heard saying, I know it was sent from your phone to your email to (A.J.).

Adkins then said he only sent the photos because A.J. asked for them. That also occurred well after A.J. reached majority age, and Adkins reiterated that he did not mess around with children.

Lawrence Kelly, a special agent with the GBI who specializes in mobile phone data forensics, said metadata pulled from the emailed images showed they were sent from a Samsung Galaxy Note 4, operating on a Verizon network. The data also showed the phone was registered the day before the images were sent, which means the phone was likely, but not conclusively, obtained the day it was registered.

When questioned by Adkins attorney Kevin Gough if it was possible Adkins could have sent the photos accidentally, Kelly said it was. Kelly also acknowledged that the timestamps of when the email was sent and received indicated that, as Gough suggested in a question, it was sent from Georgia and received by A.J. while on Army deployment in Germany.

A contention made by prosecutors is the photos indicate a physical relationship between Adkins and A.J., though Kelly admitted it would be rather difficult to have a physical relationship at that immediate time, separated by an ocean.

According to investigators, one woman, J.C. who was of age at the time told them she, A.J. and Adkins engaged in sexual acts at an area hotel, though she was initially reluctant to do so. Adkins allegedly warned her about saying anything about it, and gave her $200 to remain quiet.

In the GBI interview, Adkins, at first, denied getting a room for A.J. or the three of them, saying he frequently reserved rooms for any number of functions. But, again, pressed on the topic, Adkins said, I dont think I was in the room with A.J. and J.C., and reiterated that he did not have sex with them.

At the end of testimony Tuesday, the defense had to wrap up one of the basic logistics of trial work not typically seen by the public Adkins had run out of ties. Gough asked Superior Court Judge Stephen Scarlett if he could give his client his own tie, but after a short discussion in which the participants appeared to understand the light humor of the situation in comparison to those of such gravity beforehand Gough was allowed to take the necessary sartorial items to Adkins at the Glynn County Detention Center during a meeting scheduled for later Tuesday.

Court is scheduled to resume with testimony by A.J. at 9 a.m. today at the Glynn County Courthouse.

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Adkins admits emailing photos of male anatomy - The News (subscription)